While America wakes up and finds itself with a GM alfalfa
pollution problem [1], and Spain scrambles to control its GM maize pollution
problem [2], the UK has just found itself with a GM oilseed rape which nearly
became a pollution problem.

Britain doesn't, of course, grow GM anything
commercially.The offending genes were
found during routine trials of seeds seeking new plant variety registration.DEFRA quickly recalled the seeds, and ensured
that all affected plants will be destroyed by the company which supplied
them.Mysteriously, the seed was
imported from France which doesn't grow GM oilseed rape either.

A grass going feral and becoming a conduit for gene
contamination is predictable [1].An
invasive gene-transmitting weed from the other side of the world in today's
globalised market [2] is something we have to start watching out for.The possible pollution of our entire seed
supply is simply stupidity.

America is just beginning out to find out the hard way that
growing GM crops with no wild relatives to share their genes with doesn't
actually mean they'll stay in the field and under control.Even after very few years' cultivation, GM
alfalfa is now flourishing on US road verges and spreading its genes far and
wide [1].

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has long maintained
that GM crops can co-exist with conventional and organic agriculture.To keep GMOs in the field where they've been
planted, all that's needed is for neighbouring farmers to sort things out
between themselves, follow "best management practice", and sue each
other if things go wrong.

One of the big health issues to emerge in 2016 is
the Brazilian epidemic of babies tragically born with 'microcephaly'
(undeveloped brain) and other deformities.Between October 2015 and January 2016, some 4,000 cases of malformation
were reported, with 49 deaths.Health
officials were quick to blame Zika virus which had been first identified in
Brazil in April/May 2015.

Not content with Nature's measured pace for adjusting the
genome to suit the ecosystem, the environment and the future, genetic engineers
have devised a way to force GMOs to add an extra copy of artificial DNA into
their offspring.This creates a
mutagenic chain reaction which drives the artificial DNA progressively into
subsequent generations.

The 'gene-drive' is based on a bacterial genome-editing
technique described by GM-free Scotland before - CRISPR-Cas9 [1].'Cas9' is an enzyme which cuts DNA, while the
'CRISPR' part is a homing device to anchor the Cas9 to the desired bit of the
genome.In a gene-drive, the CRISPR-Cas9
stays where it is in the genome and carries on mutating the genome of the
wild-type mate during reproduction to produce nothing but mutated offspring.

This means that what genetic engineers can do now is
population engineering, and if applied to wild populations this is ecological
engineering.

Welcome to GM-free Scotland

About us

Formerly known as the Scottish Consumers Association for Natural Food, Pro-natural Food Scotland was formed in 1996 by a group of concerned people in Glasgow, Scotland. We are funded entirely by donation and run by volunteers. We network with, and support, all like-minded groups and individuals. Our objective is to empower by raising awareness.